Partner
by Siera-Knightwalker
Summary: Hikaru hadn't entered Seido with any idea for what would be coming. He had wanted to play against good players. But he had never expected someone like Miyuki Kazuya. He hadn't expected to make a real rival out of Narumiya Mei. Turns out, there was quite a lot of things he hadn't expected.


"Hikaru Nakamura. I play Pitcher," his eyes darted to a figure on his right and a small smirk appeared on his lips, "but I'm fine with catcher as well." The player noticed his gaze and returned it with a confident smirk.

Someone from the crowd of seniors seemed to sigh on noting the competitive gazes and he almost bit through his lip trying to keep from snickering. A few didn't even bother.

"Next!"

That, and a single look from their fearsome coach-seems-like-a-mafia-boss shut up everyone. They continued on to the next person.

Honestly, baseball hadn't been his first preference as a sport. From a young age, he had wanted to be an athlete for sure, but baseball had crazy power hitters that he wouldn't be able to compete against. He hadn't even wanted to try. But his father had handed him a ball and a mitt and told him to play with the other kids.

He had taken to baseball like fish to water. It was hard to get him away from the diamond ever since. It was funny when his 'catcher' would get frustrated by his inability to throw pitches at his mitt during practice, and get elated when he caught every single one of his pitches during actual matches.

Honestly, to him, catcher had been a boring position. He had fun when he played, of course, but watching others play catcher had just made him want to fall asleep. No one was good enough. No one was _fun_ enough.

How could he form an awesome battery when his catcher wasn't just as amazing? But then he saw Miyuki Kazuya's match. A genius, and already being scouted by multiple schools. He was _fun_. The way he played catcher... It gave him shivers. He wanted to play against him. He wanted to play _with_ him.

Their game against each other was probably one of the most intense game he had ever played. He held them scoreless for 6 innings before Miyuki got a hit against him. The runner on third dashed to home base and Miyuki ran for first. The ball hit the ground behind him. He ran for it, but it sped towards the second baseman. He caught it and threw it home.

Only, it was a fraction of a second too late. The player had reached home. He had to concede another run before his frustration died down and was replaced by an icy calm. He was told that he always performed well under pressure, be it his own or others. Sometimes he just forgot there even was any pressure.

Official games were fun because everyone was so serious but even when he supported his team, it was hard to feel like they supported him back. He was the one who encouraged people the most and while it was fun most of the time, he wasn't there to talk about issues. If they couldn't play baseball under pressure, why play at all?

But his team was decent. They were a bit emotionally weak, but with a little support they could go a long way. Even after Miyuki got 2 runs from him, he continued to pitch normally.

They were in the lead by a run before the cleanup hit the ball right at him. He barely had the chance to move away before it hit his left arm with a sickening crack. His strength was commendable, even if his control wasn't very good. He had also been scouted by quite a few schools.

Hikaru had to clench his jaw with the effort it took not to scream in surprise and pain. His team and the old coach gathered around him. They supported him towards the stretcher. Lying down, he wondered if he should saw anything to him team. He cracked a smile at his worried teammates.

"Don't worry so much. Not like I'm dying or anything." He laughed at their dramatically pained faces. "Assholes, every last one of you. Now, go win this!" They cheered at that but as he was taken away, he could see from the way their faces were bleached of colour that they weren't handling it too well.

He sighed, closing his eyes. There's no way the relief pitcher could handle himself in this situation.

He slightly rolled his left ankle, slightly resentful at the slight pain there as well. If he showed up at the dugout, they would play better but the doctor would definitely discover his ankle pain too and not send him back.

After all, if his dad didn't know when he was hiding an injury, who would?

The situation was way too troublesome.

He blinked out of his reminiscing when the coach had them started on basic training exercises. The last time he had seen Miyuki had been when he scored off him. He had definitely been underestimating his batting skills then, causing him to lose his focus when Miyuki hit off him and got a run for his team.

He shot a belligerent look at Miyuki's back. No matter how fun his baseball was, he had entered Seido with the full expectation that Miyuki would be going to player with decent eyes could see that Mei was an arrogant pitcher who wanted to go to nationals desperately, and Miyuki was pretty much the best catcher in their year.

Even if Hikaru was a half decent catcher, he was a pitcher first. There was no way Narumiya would every ask him to come with that in his mind. No way Narumiya would ever ask a competitor to come on his side. He wont take anything less than being the absolute Ace. No surprise there.

The most logical and interesting answer was Miyuki refusing Mei. Whether it was because he liked Seido or wanted to play against such an amazing team, Hikaru didn't know. He didn't actually care farther than 'Miyuki refused him'.

Hikaru really was a lucky guy. To be able to play against an amazing pitcher then end up in the same team? He hid his smirk as he ran. He couldn't wait to see if Miyuki lived up to his fame.

-x-

There was a match against another school and the baseball players were all allowed to watch. He carefully observed every player on their team during the game. The team was definitely national level. The third years were determined and the second years were relentless and unforgiving. They were all skilled and passionate.

He had seen the second years push their practice time till after midnight, so they could be satisfied. Just watching them made him want to play. He wanted to play against them. He wanted to pitch a ball past Tetsuya. He wanted to bat against Tanba. He wanted to play against every single one of his senpai.

"Calm down! Its like you want to go on a murdering rampage with that expression!" Another first year laughed nervously with a hand on his shoulder, almost pulling him back down to his seat. He blinked, slightly dazed from the change before grinning sharply at Tanba, their second year pitcher, who threw an almost perfect curveball, intimidating the other team.

He was never more glad for his unique emerald eyes. Those were the only reason he was anything close to intimidating. As a pitcher, being intimidating was important. Their pitches spoke for themselves sometimes, but if the pitcher was intimidating enough, they could make the other pitcher uneasy. Or make the fielders nervous. It's easy game after that.

True enough, they won the game, and after that he couldn't get rid of the excess energy in his body. The game was there specifically to show off the skills of the first-string; to show where they needed to be, to be first-string. He couldn't stop grinning at them.

He was running half the night trying to get rid of the excess energy. They would have to play a game against non-starters second and third years for the position of first string. He smirked before lightly stretching. Either way, he would definitely get into the first string. He needed enough sleep first, specially with the snoring third years in his room.

He couldn't wait to see how Miyuki played with him as the pitcher. Would he rise to the challenge? Would he be able to handle his pitches? There was a reason he was the only pitcher to be a challenger to Narumiya. But then again, Miyuki was another.

There was no way he wasn't good.

-x-

The match day started early with the eagerness to show their worth to their mafia-boss coach. The game started with most of the first years almost bowing down to the intensity emitted by the others. The batters barely scored 1 run in three innings and the pitchers and catchers had no coordination.

Forth inning, Miyuki became the catcher for their team, and the change was obvious. He calmed everyone with his honest determination, had the pitcher's quirks down and ended the inning off with no extra runs. When Miyuki's turn to bat came, and he hit the ball to the outfields. After a while, he realized that he was scaring the other first years because he was grinning like a crazy person.

At the beginning of the next inning, the pitcher was called to change again and this time when he started getting ready, no one said a word. He entered the field with a wild grin on his face and glowing eyes. He started off practice by throwing normal fastballs right into the mitt. When they got on field was when it mattered, after all.

The match started with a second year batter, though his eyes never swayed from Miyuki's.

"'Just has to be inside the strike zone' huh?" He said to himself with a smirk.

He readied a fastball, in the strike zone but away from his mitt. There was no way Miyuki was getting perfectly landed pitches unless they were in a match. Or it was needed. Plus, he had an excuse.

Not like Miyuki could signal him what he wanted. He placed his mitt outside and low, and so he shot it into the middle.

"Strike!" The coach said.

Miyuki raised his eyes from his own smoking mitt to Hikaru's face, a grin plastered on his face with a silent challenge. He sent the ball right back before putting his mitt in the middle.

He could catch anything but balls easily that way. But it was his way of accepting the challenge saying _'anywhere you send it, I'll get it'._

His eyes were a burning amber.

Hikaru prepared a splitter behind his mitt and slid into his form that was as natural to him as breathing, his arm practically blurring with the speed he threw the ball at. The ball sharply dropped and Miyuki jerked to catch it in time.

"Strike!"

Miyuki was analyzing him like he was the batter instead of his catcher- something he was familiar with. The batter twitched as they both completely ignored him, even though he swung at the second pitch.

Hikaru rolled the returned ball in his hand, wondering if he just finish it was a fastball again? Miyuki's mitt was slightly lower than before, knowing the natural tendency of a pitcher to not send a high ball, specially at the end.

He send fastball high and out and narrowed his eyes when Miyuki's smirk widened. He had definitely guessed it even if he hadn't changed the mitt position. His feet hadn't either. He still caught the ball.

"Strike! Batter out!"

They were entirely unaware of how people were staring at the two with surprised or impressed looks. They had heard their reputations of course, but some things were easier to understand after watching them. Everyone had known that while they were competitive, neither had gone out of their way to talk to the other.

This was potentially their first interaction.

The pitcher threw randomly but every single one of his pitches was inside the strike zone and the catcher had potentially no way to know where he was going to throw the ball yet he caught it anyway. He positioned his mitt and moved it to catch the ball, and he caught it every time without fail.

The batters were the most frustrated at the fact that they were being ignored and they couldn't even do anything because they were playing at a higher level than them. They couldn't even distract them.

The second batter had a strikeout and the third batter made his way on the batter's box. The pitcher seemed to get calmer the more he pitched and it made people feel the tension of a real match, specially with the grin on the catcher's face.

The coach prevented the changing pitchers, noticing that the pitcher wasn't finished. But the inning finished with nothing new.

Unexpectedly, Nakamura, who was known for his just-barely-on-the-right-side-of-decent batting skills, scored a hit to the outfields.

The next inning, the first batter came to the box with determination running through his veins and the pitcher readied his pitch, instead of blindingly fast pitches that they were getting used to, the ball was slow. Almost floating.

"Is that a knuckleball?" Someone started.

"What the hell is this first year?"

"Are you sure he isn't related to a pro?"

Miyuki had been wondering what he would throw considering his normal pitches had become ridiculously erratic and precise, from one corner to the other making him jump around like crazy without throwing a single ball. He had almost missed a few of them. But his skills were being put to the test. He wasn't letting a single ball pass him.

His eyes were still intensely focused on Miyuki, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to start laughing because he was hysterical or hysterically amused by this crazy pitcher. He wanted Miyuki to catch a _knuckleball_ without any practice. People spent years learning how to catch and throw stuff like that. Catchers literally had a special mitt just for knuckleballs.

He really wanted to laugh. Instead, he shifted his legs to a more balanced position. The wind was calm and shifted away from the batter.

Who cared what experience said? His pitcher threw a knuckleball and told him to catch it. Like hell he was letting it pass him.

The ball shifted but not as much as a fully learnt one would. It was heavier. It wasn't perfect yet. The ball shifted nearly at the last moment again and he caught the thing on the edge of his mitt, wondering if he could try catching more knuckleballs or would this pitcher just throw in some fastballs for good measure?

He probably would, Miyuki thought, his eyes fixed on the completely unsurprised pitcher.

They were called to change and the first years checked if they had another pitcher. They did, but he looked a little scared to pitch. Hikaru shot him an encouraging smile.

"This match is to show off what you're worth. Don't be scared to take this opportunity and prove yourself! It'll be your stage soon." He grinned, shooting a look at Miyuki's direction.

"Y-Yes! But you did really well. This pressure is really intense." The pitcher wiped his sweat.

"Pressure?" He blinked at the nervous guy. Then laughed nervously when he turned around to the other dugout to find the other second-string players glaring at him.

"It's fine." He nervously waved them off. "It's a game to see how good you are. Don't get overwhelmed yet! You want to pitch during matches, don't you?" He grinned. The pitcher calmed down and and held his hat with a determined glint in his eyes.

"Go get them!" He put a hand on his shoulder in support before he was called up. He looked at all the other first years cheering their team on, before meeting Miyuki's. They should talk now, right?

"Nice pitching. Even though you never threw anything near my mitt." Miyuki commented. Hikaru's smile widened into a grin.

"Did you expect me to? Nice manipulation. I can see why you're so good." Miyuki's smirk became smug.

Miyuki had placed his mitt in a way that would make it more likely for him to throw somewhere specific. He wouldn't know what kind of balls Hikaru would throw but he would know approximately where. He did that all the while making sure the pitching was unpredictable enough for the batters. It was definitely impressive.

"I never expected you to throw a knuckleball at me. That was unexpected." Hikaru relaxed beside Miyuki.

"It had better damn well be! I spend half the year training my ass off for that." Miyuki turmed to look at him with a surprised look, before a smirk crawled up his lips.

"Half a year for that? It wasn't even perfect. If it was, I might have missed it." He huffed, looking away.

"Sorry, I couldn't meet your expectations, you great genius." He said sarcastically. "But try pitching first before you go all high and mighty on me."

"Kazuya Miyuki and Hikaru Mizusawa will start practice as first-string from tomorrow. Everyone else, line up. The game has finished."

There was quite a bit of murmuring but no one said anything. Hikaru joined the other first years in lining up, and instead of the dark, envious stares like he had been expecting, he got respectful and slightly awed looks from everyone.

"Thank you for the game!"

The other team shook hands with him, smiled and laughed with him. A few people from his team came up to him, slightly jealous but mostly respectful as well.

 _Are all high school baseball teams like this?_

Hikaru couldn't help the blush that rose every time someone commended his skills. These people weren't out to hurt a team member for their skills. They respected the hard work put in to be good. These people were a part of his team now.

 _Wow. High school baseball really is different._

Nothing could erase the bright grin from his face for the rest of the night.


End file.
